On 9th June 2015 in the cinema hall of the Ghetto Museum in Terezín, a ceremony was held to announce the winners of the 21st literary and 19th fine art annual competitions of the Terezín Memorial, which bear the subtitle Hana Greenfield’s Memorial to honour their inspirator and co-founder. The former ghetto prisoner, Hana Greenfield-Lustigová died on 27th January 2014 at the age of 87. Her husband, Murray Greenfield , was an honorable guest at the ceremony.

In addition to winners in each category, who mostly came accompanied by their parents or teachers, the ceremony was also attended by representatives of the Town of Terezín and the Ústí nad Labem region. The association of the former Terezín ghetto prisoners was represented by Dr. Michaela Vidláková, who made a speech. Along with Jiří Polák, the son of Erik Polák, a former ghetto prisoner and a later Terezín Memorial historian, they handed over awards to the winners. Another welcomed guest was Žanda Frýdová, the daughter of a former Terezín prisoner, a writer Norbert Frýd. He was the author of the text Flowered Horse, to which Karel Reiner, another ghetto prisoner, composed the music.

Murray Greenfield, photo: Radim Nytl, Terezín Memorial

They created the work prior to their deportation in Prague and performed it with children from Jewish orphanages. Later on, it became an important part of the repertoire in the cultural life of the Terezín ghetto. Currently, it was newly staged by the Children’s Choir of Brno, and performed during the awarding ceremony. On the same day in the foyer of the cinema in the Ghetto Museum, there was opened a traditional exhibition of the best works of this year’s art competition, together with four panels to honour the life of Hana Greenfield , her share in the creation of the artistic competitions of the Terezín Memorial, and to map their history. These panels will now accompany the touring exhibitions of the Terezín Memorial Education Department.

In the school year 2014/2015, a total of 495 works from 93 schools throughout the Czech Republic participated in the competitions, 103 works in the literary part and 392 in the fine art part. The lists of winners and awarded works can be found on the website of the Terezín Memorial in the Education section.